All eyes are on what North Korea can offer

Attention is focused on North Korea’s next possible offer in the denuclearization process, with President Moon Jae-in’s envoys set to visit Pyongyang on Wednesday.

Cheong Wa Dae said denuclearization is on the agenda, along with discussions about the summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this month, means to develop inter-Korean relations and ways to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The envoys’ visit comes at a time when denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S. appear to have stalled, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang was canceled citing a lack of denuclearization action on the part of North Korea.

In March, a team of presidential envoys visited Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-un. After meeting with the South Korean envoys, the North Korean leader stated the regime was willing to give up its nuclear program if its safety was ensured, and that it had intentions to hold denuclearization talks with the U.S.

In light of the progress elicited after the envoys’ visit, there is some anticipation that North Korea may pledge to take tangible denuclearization steps.

“If North Korea were to promise to report its nuclear facilities, it would be greatly meaningful,” said Shin Beom-chul, senior fellow at The Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

“While signs show that progress in denuclearization is stalled, the North’s acceptance of South Korean envoys shows there is some possibility of progress,” he said. “North Korea may offer a gift, considering what the meeting in March generated.”

By gift, he was referring to a pledge to take tangible denuclearization measures. Shin added, however, it does not appear likely that North Korea would take a major step.

The outcome of the envoys’ visit may also depend on other factors, such as whether they will meet with the North Korean leader. Cheong Wa Dae said this has not yet been decided.

“The main agenda for the envoys’ meeting with the North is the upcoming summit, but South Korea will also have to play a facilitating role for denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S., as a stalemate in the talks will negatively affect the inter-Korean summit,” Dongguk University professor Koh Yu-hwan said.

“If things go well, there may be a meeting between Pyongyang and Washington after North Korea’s Sept. 9 founding day, and the inter-Korean summit held afterward,” Ko said.

He said “the envoys will need to hold talks with North Korea with a roadmap for declaring the end of the Korean War in mind.”

The delegation of envoys is composed of the same members who went to Pyongyang in March _ National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, National Intelligence Service director (NIS) Suh Hoon, Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, NIS deputy director Kim Sang-gyun and senior Cheong Wa Dae official Yun Kun-young.

Cheong Wa Dae said it “considered the continuity in inter-Korean dialogue and the effective achievement of the trip’s objective” in its decision to send the same officials.

The envoys’ visit to Pyongyang in March is seen to have led to the inter-Korean summit in April and the summit between Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in June, where Kim pledged to achieve complete denuclearization.

 

 

 

Source:koreatimes.co.k